Secret of the Willows
by Stealing Stars
Summary: Remember the shack in the woods, the large forest filled with weeping willows, how their leaves covered us and the shack. Where we would run away to when your father and silblings would beat you, or my parents started to fight. The shack that held all our secrets, fears, and our first kiss. [Bad summary and Slash] Breldon


"Bradley, it is a beautiful day outside, get out more, stop rotting your brain in front of the TV! Blah!" The red head muttered, repeating what his mother had nagged at him a few minutes ago before turning his TV off and pushing him out the door. Brad frowned as he tried to get back in, but just got yelled at and pushed back out, this time the door was locked behind him. The red head stuffed his hands into his pockets as he started walking into the forest behind the neighborhood. It was far more interesting than the playground or sports field, and most of the time it was filled with annoying little kids.

As he kept walking, the trees slowly started growing taller, thicker as slowly the pines and birch trees started growing less and less as more willows started taking up the space. This place wasn't called Willow forest for no reason; the large amount of weeping willows was rather...beautiful.

Brad looked around as he ripped leaves off the trees, throwing it around. The wind blew hard as it caused the long, light leaves to move around like arms stretched out to grab the red head; he spotted a clearing up ahead through the trees and started walking towards it.  
He could hear a small river bubbling in the clearing, but just as he arrived at the edge, he heard something else and stopped, it was a very soft voice...singing. Brad hid behind the large trunk of a willow tree as he listened, it took him a moment to realize he couldn't understand the song, it wasn't English, but it sounded happy.

"Shelby Shelby elhinda'a  
Sha'ra aswad we mna'a  
Willi yehibbek bibusek  
Willi baghadek shu bitla'a..."

The voice sang out, Brad moved out slightly as he could see a head of black hair, short to the shoulders. The singer was facing away from him, but Brad could almost guess by the voice it was a girl, not to mention the clothes she was wearing.

"Yall tnam...yalla tnam  
Ladbahla tayrel hamam  
Ruh ya hamam la tehaddi  
Lakzeb 'a Shelby... tatnam."

The girl finished singing as she softly laughed, he could see her back lightly move with each laugh, she threw her hands up as flower petal were launched into the sky and rained around her. As she turned around slightly, the red head could slightly see her face, freckles and light peachy colored skin. Brad tried stepping closer as he tried to see her better, he moved forward as he wanted to get a better look.

Snap!

The turned around quickly as she looked right at Brad who stood like a deer in headlights, his foot on a broken twig and one hand gripping onto the willow tree. They stayed like this for a moment before the girl tilted her head to the side and jolted up from where she was sitting. Now Brad could see she was just a little taller than he was and he was seven.

"H-Hey." Brad was able to finally spit out; the girl just blinked a few times before smiling happily and quickly walked over to him before stopping a little away from him. "What are you doing out here by yourself?" The redhead asked as he felt a little nervous around her, the girl hadn't said anything, not even 'hello'.

"I live near here and I like coming out here to play in the clearing, who are you?" She asked, her voice was soft, a little silvery. Tiny pink flower clips held back her bangs as she looked down at him, a goofy little smile on her lips as she held a flower in her hand; the same type of flowers she had thrown up into the air.

"I'm Brad, I live in the cul-de-sac in front; I always wondered what was back here." He replied, looking at her he realized she had flower petals all over her hair; Brad hesitated at first as he reached out and carefully started removing a few from her hair. The girl flinched when Brad reached out, but now she stood very still and crouched down a little; Brad didn't even think she was breathing. After a few moments he pulled away and looked at her, he felt himself blushing yet he didn't know why. "There...they're...uh...all gone." He said softly, the black haired girl straightened up slightly before looking at him. They were both quiet.

A blush painted her cheeks as she looked back at him before smiling slightly, rubbing up and down her arm before clutching onto her simple, sleeveless blue dress. "I'm...Shelby." She spoke, her voice soft. "Do you want to play with me?" Shelby asked eagerly, smiling brightly which caused Brad to blush even more at just how pure her smile was, she just wanted someone to play with.

"Uh...sure." Brad replied, soon enough his arm was grabbed and pulled, the redhead tried his best to keep up with her as she ran. 'Wow, she's fast!' He thought as he quickly found his footing and kept up only to be stopped a few moments later. He peeked over her shoulder at the mess of dolls and toy cars as well as small water guns; Shelby just looked back at him and smiled before she let go of him.

"It's strange to find a girl who likes playing with water guns and cars." Brad said as he sat down on a spot of grass, he looked up at Shelby as he waited for her to sit down.

She looked uncomfortable before slowly sitting down next to him. "Yeah...It's kind of strange, isn't it?" Shelby muttered, she sighed as she looked down at the ground, ripping pieces of grass up. Brad quickly realized he'd done something wrong, like always and tried to fix it.

"N-No, It's not weird or strange, it's just...uh...rare, nothings is wrong with it. Uh...Let's play!" Brad said in a rush, trying to help her feel better, he'd just met this girl and was already ruining their friendship. Shelby looked up and smiled happily, Brad felt his heart feel funny.

"Shukran." She muttered softly as she moved her dolls out of the way, it reminded Brad about something he wanted to ask her.

"Hey, what was that song you were singing, it wasn't English was it?" He leaned in a little closer to her, Shelby stiffened slightly at the question before slowly turning around to face him, and she looked a little scared.

"It's an old lullaby song my mother taught me...It's from Syria, it's where my ancestors are from..." She replied softly, as she spoke, she started curling up and Brad wondered what was wrong. Was the song something sacred that he's wasn't supposed to hear? Maybe it was a spell, Was Shelby a witch? Was she going to turn him into a toad?!

Brad's head was spinning with all the questions, so much so that he almost missed what Shelby said next.

"Do you want to learn how to sing it?"

Brad snapped out of it as he looked at her, he scrunched up his eyebrows as Shelby looked around nervously. "O-Or not...Uh...its o-okay then, uh...oh...ah, please don't hurt me!" She yelled out at the end as she curled up into a ball and covered her head with her hands and started shaking. Brad pulled away as he heard her crying, oh shoot! He made her cry!

"Ah, Shelby stop crying, I'm not going to hurt you, why would I do that?! You're my friend!" He said as he wished he knew what to do, he'd never made anyone cry before; no one took him seriously enough.

He slowly pulled her hands off her head and carefully pulled her head up from her knees; Shelby softly sniffled and looked up at him. Brad couldn't help but blush again; he wondered why he kept doing that around her. "T-Teach me the song, I want to learn it."  
The black haired girl smiled happily as she wiped her tears away with her hand and slowly got onto her knees, Brad moved right in front of her and did the same.

"It's a really easy song, just repeat after me, okay?" Brad nodded as Shelby smiled slightly once again before softly clearing he throat and took Brad's hands into her own.

"Brad Brad elhinda'a  
Sha'ra aswad we mna'a." Shelby sang happily as she made the movements with Brad's hands, the redhead did his best to repeat, yet all he could understand was his name; Shelby continued slowly.

"Willi yehibbek bibusek  
Willi baghadek shu bitla'a…" And she lost him, Brad just kept going, mouthing the words he couldn't understand and repeating the ones he could

"Yall tnam...yalla tnam  
Ladbahla tayrel hamam…" What was she even singing about, Brad really wished he could understand her language; he did his best to repeat it.

"Ruh ya hamam la tehaddi  
Lakzeb 'a Brad... tatnam." Brad was practically mesmerized by the song, a tiny part of his mind told his it was a spell, yet he knew it wasn't that. Shelby let go of his hands, they felt cold without hers' holding them. "So…did you like the song?" Brad just nodded, before sticking his hands into his pockets. "Do you want to hear it in English?"

She said the magic words and Brad nodded again, slowly slipping his hands back out and Shelby slowly took them, holding them a little tighter than before.

"Brad, Brad the smart  
His hair is fair and tidy  
Whoever loves you will kiss you  
But whoever hates you... will have problems  
Sleep ...Sleep  
To offer him a pigeon  
Go, O pigeon, don't stop  
I am fibbing Brad to sleep."

Brad had never heard such a strange song before, yet he kind of liked it. He kept holding her hand and she didn't pull away, they stayed like that. "You want to sing it again in Arabic?" Brad nodded as she started again; he sang along yet didn't play attention to it, only her. The rest of the afternoon was spent singing and playing in the willow trees, whenever Brad could, he would hold Shelby's hand and she would always allow him to, even blushed a little when he did.

Sunset came fast; Brad hadn't realized until Shelby looked around and jolted up from the grass. "I have to go home before the street lights come on!" She said as she grabbed a small backpack from the ground and started putting all her things into it, Brad quickly helped her. Shelby thanked him before closing the bag up and started running towards the forest.

"Let me walk you home, it's not safe for you to walk through the forest by yourself." Brad said as he ran after her and blocked her path, he didn't want something to happen to her; she was his friend.

"N-No, I'll be fine, bye Brad!" Shelby said in a rush, she gave him a kiss on the cheek before ducking under his arm and running off into the darkness of the forest, Brad stood there in shock from the kiss, and he slowly touched his cheek. He snapped out of it and turned around; he could hear her flip-flops hitting the ground in the distance. "Hey, Shelby, Will you be here tomorrow?" He yelled out, hoping she could hear him, for a moment there was no response and Brad sighed.

"Yes, see you then!" Came her voice, it was far away, but Brad heard her and couldn't keep the smile from spreading onto his face. He turned around and headed home, smiling all the way there.

His mother yelled at him, crying as she thought something happened to him; he hugged her and apologized about worrying her. He kept quiet about Shelby, she was his little secret.

* * *

"Hey, my mom taught me another song!" Brad opened his eyes as he looked up at Shelby; he was lying in the warm grass with his hand behind his head as she made something next to him. Now she was looming over him, smiling brightly. Quickly she moved away with a flutter of her pink skirt and white top, Brad slowly sat up as he looked over at her. "Come over here!" She waved him over to the small and lazy stream; he nodded and sat down next to her.

"You better not push me in, Shel." Brad joked, the black haired girl softly laughed. "No really, I don't want to get sick." The taller girl nodded and waved him off as if saying she wouldn't; Brad nodded slightly.

"Alright, I'll sing it first in Arabic and the second time in English." Shelby said as she sat down on her legs, pulling her skirt down as she did.

"Hassissan…" She sang before lightly tapping on her legs and clicked her tongue before singing more.  
"shu hulween…" More tapping and clicking.  
"Amma yaduru hawla ummon mabsuteen…" Shelby sang and stuck her hands into the water, cupping them.  
"Sherbu may…" Shelby lifted her hands as she took a drink of water before she kept going.  
" 'alu khay…" Brad almost bit his tongue this time clicking as Shelby raised her hands up to the sun.  
"Rafa'u rason hamadu rabbon mabsuteen" The song finished and Brad looked over at the black haired girl hoping to do the English version; he wanted to know what was up with taking a gulp of water.

"Ready for the English version?" Shelby asked and Brad nodded as he scooted closer to her; she blushed slightly clearing her throat and starting.

"These chickens... How they are beautiful  
They are walking around their mother happily  
They drank water and said Wow Yum Yum  
They raised their heads and thanked God happily." This time Brad kept up with the words, clicks, and taps; he even drank water at the right time. He was glad to be able to catch onto it so quickly; he wanted to make Shelby happy.

Shelby smiled as they sat there quietly, the sound of the stream cutting through the silence, Brad shifted slightly as he couldn't think of anything to say; why was it so difficult to talk to girls?

"Brad…I want to tell you something…" Shelby said softly, she looked down at the ground as she spoke, shivering slightly. Brad looked a little worried as he put a comforting arm around her shoulder, rubbing it lightly which only seemed to make Shelby even more uncomfortable.  
"Y-You're like my best friend, no one here had ever been that nice to me…so…You should be the first to know my secret, mama told me never to tell anyone…but I feel like I keep lying to you." She muttered softly, Brad lightly pulled his arm away, wondering what was wrong with her; the thought of her being a witch came back to him.

"The thing is…I-I-I'm no-"

"Shelby!" A loud voice cut the young girl off, Shelby spun around as she was faced with a tall, middle aged woman. Her hair was just as black as Shelby's yet was threaded with silvering strands.

"What are you doing child, where have you been!?" The woman yelled out, she seemed so fragile as she walked over to the younger girl; Shelby quickly got up as she looked at her mother.

"Ummah, what are you doing out here, you should be at home resting!" Soon enough Shelby was by her mother's side, holding her hand as their words turned from English to Arabic. Brad just sat there on the ground; he shifted slightly yet didn't dare speak up. Quickly enough Shelby's mother looked over at him and hissed something at her before taking her by the arm and pulling her away.

"I'm sorry, Brad. I have to go, bye!" Shelby looked back at him as she waved, the red-head just waved back slightly as he watched her leave.

"Alright…See you then." She muttered softly, knowing she wouldn't hear him and slowly got off the ground. Brad cleaned his pants off and started walking home, as he took a step, he felt something snap under his foot. He pulled away to see a bracelet and guessed it was Shelby's; he picked it up and cleaned it off. It was pretty simple, a brown leather strip with a rainbow color of beads and a red charm in the middle. As he shifted it around, the red charm fell off along with a few beads.

"Oh shoot, I broke it!" He muttered angrily, picked the pieces up and stuck them into his pocket; he'd fix it at home. Brad looked around in case Shelby left something else here before running home; his mother had some beads and things in the attic, he could fix the broken bracelet.

Deep inside, he really hoped he would get to see Shelby again. His mind wondered off to what she had tried to tell him, she had looked rather uncomfortable and nervous. 'What could it be?' Brad gave it some thought yet nothing came to mind; maybe it was just important to her.  
Once he got home, he greeted his mother before rushing up to attic; with a little help from the older woman Brad was able to get into the attic.

"Bradley, what are you looking for?" His mother asked as she helped him up into the attic, Brad didn't say anything as he carefully pulled the ladder down and looked down at her.

"I'm just looking for the craft bag, I want to make something for a friend" He muttered as he was handed a flash light, he turned it on and started looking around. He'd seen the craft bag around here last time he helped his mother clean, it couldn't have run off.

"Oh, a girl or a boy, Bradley?" She asked as she could see the light of the flashlight moving around. "It's a little more to your right, honey." She called up to him, Brad looked over and saw the patch works bag and grabbed it before climbing down. "Oh, you've got a cobweb in your hair." Soon enough she started cleaning it out of his spiky red hair, Brad didn't complain.  
"So is your friend a girl or a boy; I'm not going to judge. You can like anyone you want, I'm just curious." She said happily in a motherly tone, lightly tugging at the flaming red hair.

"Mom! I'm not like that; her name is Shelby." He slightly wined; Brad pulled away as soon as the cobwebs were gone and went to his room. As soon as he shut the door, he locked it and sat on the ground. It didn't take him long to find what he was looking for, a transparent box filled to the brim with beads, all stuck in individual baggies. Brad started, knowing he should finish before dinner so his mom didn't try to sneak a peek at his project, he didn't want anyone to see it until it was finished.


End file.
